As discussed recently here, it was suggested that a new chapter for impoting
data should be added to the documentation.
Since this is a completely new chapter, I am including my very initial draft
here, with the hopes that others can quickly steer me in a different direction,
should that be necessary.
Furthemore, there are a lot of gaps in my knowledge, as I do not use many of
these import features. I am really only fluent in the QIF and OFX importers. I
would welcome additional input on all the other modes of import. In addition, I
wonder whether this would be a place to discuss Online banking (HBCI,
DirectConnect, etc.).
Anyway, here is the rudimentary rough draft:
Importing Data
Importing Data into Gnucash
Gnucash obviously supports the manual entry of transactions, and for many
users, this primary method of entering transactional data into your Gnucash
books will meet all your needs.
However, there are many times and circumstances when it would be desirable to
import transactions into Gnucash—without having to manually enter each
transaction. Gnucash provides a number of different import features and formats
that will allow you to add large sets of transactions to a set of books rapidly.
Import Formats
Gnucash recognizes many different standard accounting formats:
· QIF – The Quicken® Interchange Format
· OFX/QFX – Open Financial Exchange/Quicken® Financial Exchange formats
· MT940/MT942 – Deutsche Banking formats
· DTAUS
Gnucash also includes options to import data related to its business features:
Bills and Invoices and Customers and Vendors.
Finally, Gnucash supports a more generalized import of Comma-Separated Value
(csv) files, which for a number of reasons will be discussed in a separate
section.
The Import Process
In general, any import process boils down to a few broad steps:
1) secure and verify a data source
2) initiate the import process in Gnucash
3) check that the result will be accurate
4) finalize the importation
Securing and Verifying a Data Source
Many financial institutions offer their clients the option of downloading or
direct loading their transactions from the institution’s online services. In
the United States, many institutions offer QIF or OFX/QFX downloads. Please
note that each institution has its own procedures and guidelines regarding the
access of this information, and the user must determine this from the
institution directly.
For
Initiating the Import Process
Once you have the data available for import, select File->Import->{target
format} to initiate the import process. Gnucash will prompt you for necessary
information at each step of the import (for example, selecting the file to
import and the account into which the transactions will go).
Verifying the Import
After Gnucash has prepared the incoming data for import, you will have an
opportunity to verify that the import is accurate, before the transactions are
actually inserted into your data file.
It is strongly advised that you check the transactions closely and make sure
that they reflect your accounting needs, especially with regard to assigning
accounts.
There are a number of reasons to do this. First, and most obviously, it is
easier to take the time to assign accounts to the transactions while they are
still isolated in the import; once they are added to the main books, it will be
more difficult to track the transactions down.
Another reason to assign accounts during the import process is that Gnucash
uses a matching program that learns from your prior choices. Each time you
assign accounts in the import window, Gnucash gets a little more accurate in
its import mapping.
Finalizing the Import
Once you are satisfied with the results in the import window, you accept the
import, and Gnucash places the transactions in the data file.
Format Specific Descriptions
QIF
OFX
MT940/942
DTAUS
CSV
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